All hail the biddy tots!

On a Wednesday morning while lil legs is at nursery Blossom and I attend a Mum and baby/toddler group. Myself and my kooky friend have renamed  the group 'biddytots' on account of it being run by a group of church goers who are lets say, senior in years.

Each week we pay our fifty English whole pence for our pink wafer biccy and a cup of Iceland's instant coffee and stifle giggles as the biddies get run ragged by the toddlers and make inappropriate comments as only those past caring over seventy do.

I always find the experience surreal as my buddy Cheshire Mum spends her Wednesday with Coleen Rooney (you know the one that married Shrek .)   I know! Glam right? They go to the same toddler music group. And there we are experiencing a different type of Hollywood tan altogether. Mainly the pop sock forty denier kind.

These last few weeks both of us have had to feign excuses more believable than 'we are washing our hair' as the biddies are trying to force us to come to the Christmas party that's in the evening sans kids. There will be 'festive food such as lasagna, something with chicken and food for those vegetarian people snort and if you don't like that then I'm sure there will be quiche.' Apparently.Funnily enough we've both managed to weedle out of going but part of me thinks maybe we should go just to see what the biddies are like after a few pints of cooking sherry?

But  the star of biddy tots is Micheal Caine. Not the real one you understand. But he is pretty bloody close. He takes the fifty pence when you arrive and gets yelled at takes instruction from the main biddy. I'm not sure how the main biddy got the important role of main biddy. Maybe she was voted the main biddy? I'm doubtful. I think she probably forced the title on herself. I'm sure a Lord of the Flies scenario only with biddies is on the cards at some point. In fact if she's not there after Christmas I would put money on the other biddies having got fed up with her and putting her in the lasagna at the  adults only Christmas party.

Oh blimey.

Do any of you go to a similar surreal group run by senior citizens?

I *heart* Build a Bear. I mean my kids do.

Let us get the boring bit out of the way first huh? This is not a sponsored post, the payment I received for my review was two cuddly Build a Bears for my kids, and what Mummy would refuse her kids that hey?

Our adventure started here

and as we arrived at The Build a Bear workshop in Brighton Monty was, lets say, a little excited.

See! GRIN! The staff at the Brighton branch took care of us so well, I would personally like to thank Hayley, Jo and Perrie for really spoiling my children and they thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience.
Before we arrived I had mentally decided that Monty could choose what ever he liked and I would have artistic direction over Blossoms choices, that Blossoms Build a Bear would be a classy affair and Monty's would be just as he  wished. I had no idea Monty would choose a lilac sparkly bear, give it the star wars theme tune when you squeeze its tum and dress him as a policeman. Lets just say  'Teddyson' as Mo named him will definately be coming to gay pride this year and I am so proud of Monty for his choices.

So, once the bear had been chosen and a sound effect decided on Teddyson was then stuffed and a bar code was placed in him so if we were to ever lose him he could be returned to a Build a Bear branch, unstitched,identified and returned to his rightful owner. Bear genius that!

Monty then chose a heart to put inside his bear, and granted him lots of love, lots of brains and a full tummy always. Very cute to watch.

And then we got to the best bit. The clothes. Oh my lordy I was in hysterics. Build a Bear boxers? Got em! Hannah Montanna outfit for Bear? Of course! Along with flip flops, roller skates, a diploma scroll, a mobile phone.....basically all your bears needs are catered for. And catered for well.

Here is Mo holding up  his well dressed  bear!

Then every bear needs a birth certificate with name,date of birth, height and weight details all included of course.

Earlier I mentioned Blossoms classy bear as chosen by me. Well that was my intention. This is what we went for

I couldn't help it, next thing I knew I had chosen a mini skirt and sparkly cardi for an ice skating Hello Kitty.  I love her. I mean Blossom does. Obviously. Ahem.

The whole experience was a joy to watch as the kids had a whale of a time.

Price wise I think the sky is the limit, Bears start at around £15 on average, and outfits can be bought for around the same price including shoes. So they can be pocket money treats or big spends for a special occassion. It's up to you.

You can check Build a Bear out on facebook HERE

And their website HERE

38 weeks

In homage to my good friend Claire's lovely blog post about her beautiful daughter baby G when she reached the same age outside as she had got to inside. xxx



Dear Blossom

So 38 weeks. I never did manage to get to my due date. Your brother was the same.

38 weeks feels like an entire lifetime ago and it feels almost as though you were always here. But at the same time I feel as though you have just turned up to the party and still struggle terribly with there being two gorgeous beings for me to love unconditionally and uncontrollably.

These last few weeks have been hard, I've been to some grim places (a phrase only a Mother can understand.) You've had coughs and colds, sickness and then the chicken pox all in the space of six weeks.

You are a clingy baby, there is no denying it. You seem to feel as though the safest place for you is in my arms and anywhere else may prove the end of your little world as you know and understand it. I love feeling you close but sometimes I ache and find things very hard one handed.

But this soon shall pass and before I know it you will be running away rather than snuggling in.

So for now I'll hold you close and hold you near.

Love you forever and a day and to the moon and back.

Mummy. x

Who likes cupcakes? Meeeeeeeeee!

This is not a sponsored post and I have not been paid to write it other than in baking equipment to make delicious cakes.Yum.


When I was on maternity leave with Monty a gorgeous little cakery cafe opened selling the most beautiful cupcakes you have ever seen. I spent many an afternoon there, eating cupcakes and cooing over my gorgeous boy.

This is what their cakes look like. Amazing aren't they?

It was then that my cupcake obsession began. I try to bake and ice them as beautifully as they do at Parklife but usually fail. The last chocolate batch I did looked like curly dog turds but there you go.

And so with my adoration  for all things cuppity cake, I'd like to tell you about a competition over on the tescos website which opens today.

All you have to do is add a photo of your cupcake creations onto the Tesco website

There will be two winners and they will be judged on the beauty of their cupcake.

So what do you win? Well I am glad you ask because it is quite a treat if you like baking.  The lucky winners will be able to bring a friend and enjoy an afternoon of cupcake creating with a chef on Friday 10th December in London. Ten runner ups will win a cupcake kit (which I myself have sampled as  a thanks from Tescos for writing this post. I will be blogging my next attempt at creating the cupcake of dreams of course!)

The last day that you can enter is Monday 29th November.
Get baking and good luck!

And that's how Mo sees it (vol 3)

My boy is growing up so fast it makes me want to throw myself on the floor with annoyance and shake my fist at the sky.

Which is slightly ridiculous but there you have it.

His language and ability to throw a sentence together has me floored daily. He's like a little old man.

Some recent gems have been:

Mummy that is just i-dick-u-lous (storms off.) I have to laugh at the early stages of Victor Meldrew appearing in my toddler.

Then we have the Toystory obsession much like a lot of three year old boys. Normal yes? Yes. Do most three year olds shout 'To infinity and beyoooooooond?' Of course they do. Mine doesn't. Recently he was jumping up and down on my bed while stark naked shouting 'IN-FANNY- AND - BEYOOOOND'
a strange porny homage to the pixar classic I'm sure you'll agree?

Then we had the 'fark we got to make the bed' incident. This was coupled with the gorgeous husband stomping down the stairs and relaying to me that lil legs had just used afore mentioned phrase. After about 6 repeats it was obvious he was saying first not *ahem* the other word but I did snort at the immediate assumption that Mo had turned into the offensive Nan from the Catherine Tate show.

We are also dealing with a lot of indignance. Is that a word? Anyway, that is what he is. Indignant. A lot. I find it hilarious how I have managed to produce a two foot know all, apparently 'sea water does taste nice Mummy h'actuallally, yes, I sink it does.'
Oh really kid? We live about five minutes from the sea hows about we find out huh? The saddest thing in this scenario is that I actually want to prove to my three year old that sea water tastes of donkey piss by marching him down to the water. I know!

Don't call social services.

Please?

Photobox review

When the lovely people at Photobox contacted me and asked if I would trial a product of theirs of my choosing (for free) in exchange for  a post on my thoughts it was a bit of a no brainer for me. I got to choose some thank you photocards free of charge and it had just been Monty's birthday so these were very much in order- perfect timing!

So I went about uploading my image, playing about with it until I was one hundred percent happy with it. I then placed my order and within about five days I had my postcards in my hands.Great.

I am a bit of a thank you card addict.At twenty seven years of age I am still sending them. And I get a bit miffed when people cannot be faffed to say 'ta for the gift.' I know it is old fashioned but I am just a  bit like that, I like to put a bit of effort in so people realise that their kindness has been noticed. So I am an old hand at the upload your photo and choose a thank you card malarky. I have used all the big websites on offer. Photobox has been by far the easiest and the quickest and I would definitely use them again.

What I loved about the experience

• Ease of use
• Ability to really play with the image and make changes (I changed my from colour to black and white Without losing quality)
• Speed of delivery
• Price- if I had paid for this item it would have been just over £20 for the 40 cards. I think this is reasonable for personal cards and I have paid a lot more when doing Christmas cards!Hence I'll be back.
• The quality of the product was brilliant and I really could not fault it.

#Twineup Venue and details

I have booked a table for a quick dinner HERE at 7.30, before moving on to the main event (which handily is just opposite Carluccios where we are eating)  where we have a reserved area booked HERE for 8.30pm Saturday October 23rd.

The venue is Merkaba cocktail bar which is in MyHotel  (17 Jubilee Street Brighton BN1 1GE)

 Brighton train station is just a 5 minute walk away so plenty close enough for those on the last train home.

Full map and details HERE

So far there is 10 of us but there is still time to let me know if you are coming just leave me a comment, tweet me (@becaboop) or drop me an email (rebecca dot metcalf1 at ntlworld dot com)

Oh and by the way the drinks list? Thats HERE I for one can't wait to do cocktails and chats with you all!

sleepytot review

The lovely Hello Baby Direct sent Blossom  her very own sleepytot to review.

When I was a newborn I was given a yellow rabbit which as I got older became known as 'Rab.'  He is present in many a baby picture of me, came with me on my first day at school and then when I was 22 and the gorgeous husband and I got Lenny (who was then a tiny puppy) he had his face chewed off by said puppy. Hmmmm. He now has a new face provided by my Nan, who is a very talented stuffed toy surgeon. While she was at it she gave him some furry leg warmers as his legs were looking a bit threadbare and worn. Well bald actually.

What I'm trying to say is, sometimes a toy just stays with you and I'm hoping that the sleepytot will be to Blossom what Rab is  to me. I still have him. I still love him.

It is described on the site as ''a baby comforter whose cuddly paws fold over to secure baby’s soother so it's always close at hand.'' well Blossom doesn't have a soother, she has her thumb in her mouth and her sleepytot in the other hand and it is the cutest thing to see them snuggled up together. I hope she still has hers aged 27 just like her Mummy! I wonder what she'll name him?Maybe Rab 2? Shall I force  encourage her to call him that?

I apologise for the lack of images in this post. Is anyone else having problems with getting pictures uploaded onto blogger. Actually want to rip my arm off and throw it. To show my distaste obviously.

Anyone else have a shitty smile?

As Blossom sat wedged into her bumbo shovelling food into her little gob with her little fingers I watched as she paused and the expression that crept across her face was all too familiar. One I had seen many times before on her brother.

You see, they share the same poo face.

Yes that gurney smiley face they both do when they are doing a farty party in their pants.

Which leads  me to wondering, do we all have the same number two face? Is it the family resemblance of many a generation that we all share the same appearance when we are dropping the kids off at the pool of the white porcelain variety?

I am considering jumping in on the gorgeous husband when he is taking a dump to see if he is sporting that all too familiar face that my kids do, that beetroot faced, blood vessel popping, feint poopy grin. Is it him they get it from or me? I rather think it is him, and definitely not me as obviously I never do them, and if I did I would look serene and somewhat like the mona lisa or someone equally as fab.

What about you? Do your kids share similar traits or expressions? Is it a trait shared by the whole family?Obviously not poo face. Think that's just us.

#TWINEUP! Calling all South Coast Mummy/Daddy bloggers/tweeters

We've been talking about it for months and now we have a date!

On Saturday 23rd October the lovely Cheshire Mum who I adore is arriving down south and it would be rather rude of us not to show her a good time (snigger) so, Brighton is the venue and I'm making arrangements as we speak but basically the evening will involve a lot of lovely people, cocktails, karaoke and of course the obligatory dance in a gay bar. It has to be done.

So if you want to come along,  can you leave me a comment so I can arrange numbers and drop me an email (rebecca(DOT)metcalf1(AT)ntlworld(DOT)com so that I can give you all the finalised details. Or you can tweet me HERE

Also Queen Hannah will be staying at mine,  I have done my front garden in preparation for her visit. Oh that sounds kinky. Not like that.  But anyway, if you want to be educated on the crapest TV ever, she's your gal! Reason enough to come out and play I think?

A tasty lunch with a guru!

On Monday I pootled off to London for a lunch date,having been invited by Dorling Kindersley to meet Annabel Karmel and discuss her new book and range of sauces and snacks.

I was joined by some fabulous Mummy bloggers, the lovely Katie Hill who blogs for i village HERE and Mumsrock.

Now when I initially got the invite I was in two minds, one because the gorgeous husband was off work and we've been having a stay cation whilst Monty recuperates frpm his operation so didn't want to swan off and leave him with the kids. Also the fact that I have gone down the baby led weaning route and Annabel is a puree guru.

However I was soon persuaded otherwise when the lovely contact from DK mentioned that Annabel would be only to happy to talk to me about getting Monty to enjoy food again after his operation. I also was reminded by a friend that Annabel doesn't just do purees, but also amazing finger food and family recipes too. I looked at my bookshelf, where many Annabel Karmel cookbooks already reside and decided I'd be silly to pass up such an opportunity.

Annabel was great when I opened up about Monty's eating quirks since he's had such a bad time with his ear nose and throat problems. I explained how little he eats and although what he does eat is very healthy, his diet is quite limited as he'll only eat certain things.The things that he does eat Annabel thought were great but I really would love him to have a bit more variety.

Annabel suggested:

• as Monty has a preference for lunch/snack/tapas type food to relax and go with this. So for example he likes wraps so she suggested lots of different fillings or making quesilladas.
• choosing a new bowl or plate that he likes and only serving small amounts so he doesn't feel overwhelmed
• knowing that it will get better!Annabel set my mind at ease that it is understandable he eats so little after having a permanent cold for two years.
• hiding fruit or veg in his food, blending more veg into soups or sauces. A needs must attitude!
• Stop worrying.He doesn't eat a large variety of fruit.He only eats dried fruit,or bananas. She said not to worry as dried fruit is fruit after all!
• Cooking and baking with Monty, she even gave me one of her toddler cookbooks to keep and it has some great recipes for family meals in.

Annabel has some great  products out such as dried fruit which is (unlike most other brands) not fried and doesn't have oil added to it, corn snacks a bit like puffed rice cakes and fabulous sauces that have NOTHING  nasty added.  Check out her website for details here but honestly I have studied the ingredients and done the taste test- huge thumbs up!

And if you are just about to wean and want some fab recipes and really good inspiration for finger food then you can buy the Weaning book HERE.

I'm sure he's plotting to bury me under the patio

I found this the other day, discretely pinned on our noticeboard in the kitchen.

I know. It is quite obvious that the gorgeous husband is plotting to quieten my incessant nagging for good. I shall no doubt be bashed over the head and buried under the patio no? Or would the decking be easier? Anyhoo, this is definitely what it is.

Except it probably isn't. But then, what is it?

Happy half birthday Blossom!

Last week Blossom turned six months so Monty and I baked her a little half birthday cake

And here's the half birthday gal

Blossom loves...

• boobs
• food
• her rabbits
• being on her feet
• stroking faces
• her brother

Blossom is...

• babbling
• nearly sitting
• kind of rolling
• giggling
• saying mmmm when Mummy walks in the room (nothing to do with Mummy and more to do with milk I think!)
• sleeping through the night- yay! twelve blissful hours.

I have no idea where the last six months have gone but if anybody knows i would totally appreciate it if you let me know.

Zoooooooooooooom!

Sharing is caring, isn't it?

I found these in the gorgeous husbands dressing gown pocket.

Git.

Hiding treats is so selfish. Unless obviously they are mine. And I've stashed them in the bathroom somewhere.Then it's fine.

A little trip to the hospital

As you all know from this post Monty had his tonsills and adenoids out last week, his ears thoroughly drained and he became the owner of some grommets.

He was so brave and coped so well with the lead up to his operation that I have to admit to being a teeny bit proud of lil legs.

He chilled out with the Peppa Pig hospital episode on his TV, and checked out the gas mask that the anaesthetist would be using

When it came to the op itself he took the transport provided by the hospital to travel in style down the corridors

It's been pretty horrible for him since the op, it's too difficult for him to understand why he's feeling like this. He was hysterical for over two hours after coming round from the anaesthetic. And has bouts of sobbing uncontrollably. It's kind of breaking my heart a bit.

I just have to keep telling myself that the really really poorly ones don't make any sound and to be thankful that he is letting us know that he is MIGHTILY PEED OFF!

Massive thanks to all the staff that looked after my boy at The Royal Alexandra Children's hospital in Brighton. They did a fantastic job and continue to do a fantastic job. I have so much respect for anyone who looks after tiny poorly people.

So there we go, all done.

(insert massive Mummy sigh)